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Police are hunting a knife-point robber after two “extremely serious” incidents.

A 50-year-old woman was robbed at knife-point in Pearl Street Middlesbrough in the early hours of Wednesday by a man who then tried to sexually assault her.

Then 24 hours later a 21-year-old man was threatened with a knife on Princes Road, near to Diamond Road, in Middlesbrough.

Police say that due to the similar times, locations and circumstances, they are linking the two incidents.

Extra patrols are now being carried out in the areas.

Detective Inspector John Wrintmore of Middlesbrough Integrated neighbourhood team said: “These are two extremely serious incidents, which have left both victims extremely upset and shaken, and in one case permanently physically scarred. Due

to the similarities we are connecting both incidents and we have detectives following a number of lines of enquiry to identify a suspect.

“I believe it is most likely the offender is local and there will be people in the community that I believe may have information that can assist; please come forward no matter how irrelevant you think it might be.

“To reassure the community and help both prevent further offences and catch the offender, we have teams of uniformed and non uniformed officers patrolling the areas.”

In the first attack on Wednesday, just after midnight, a 50-year-old woman was walking along Pearl Street Middlesbrough when she was approached by a man who asked her for a cigarette, then produced a knife and demanded her phone. The male then took the phone from the victim’s pocket before attempting to sexually assault her at which point the female struggled and the man cut her hand with the knife, leaving a deep laceration.

The suspect then ran off along Pearl Street towards Borough Road. The woman attended James Cook Hospital where she underwent surgery to repair the cuts to her hand.

The man is described as Asian, about 5ft2 tall, in his mid to late 20s, wearing a dark hooded jacket and dark bottoms with a scarf wrapped around his face. Police are keen to trace a taxi driver who picked the victim up from Linthorpe Road and took her to James Cook University Hospital.

The second incident happened just after midnight on Thursday. The suspect was described as Asian, slim build, and wearing tracksuit type clothing and trainers. The suspect then made off without taking anything, leaving the victim shaken but unharmed.

Anyone with information regarding either of these incidents or anyone who may have seen someone matching the description of the suspect, is asked to contact 101.